The Godfather, Part III - 9 to 9.5/10WTF?! I'll fight the next asshole that bashes this movie. Nearly as great as the original two. Arguably Pacino's best performance in the trilogy. Sophia Coppola's trainwreck of a performance is one of the only things wrong with this movie.

Godfather III isn't a bad movie, but it isn't in the same league as the first two.

The Narrow Margin (1952) - 7.5/10I'm not sure if the twist makes perfect sense but overall this was good. The fist fight was very intense and I liked the use of reflections in windows. I also liked the short running time of 71 mins.

Cat People - 3/10 - The remake. This is a very appropriate last film for our class considering that we watched the brilliant original to start the semester, and also because the difference in quality between the two is unfathomably huge. The first movie had its faults but its atmsophere of nightmare dread and frightening (and quite clever) ambiguity has never been topped in any horror film I've seen. This movie predictably ramps up the gore, violence, sex and nudity, destroying all subtlety and turning the movie into a gruesome and routine splatter flick (with some very awkward homages to the original). It's abominable throughout; even the oft-nude Natassja Kinski does little to alleviate it. It gets an extra star each for an interesting mis-en-scene and Malcolm McDowell's delightfully over-the-top performance, but otherwise there's absolutely no reason to see this film until the original disappears off the face of the Earth.

The 3 Rooms of Melancholia - 7/10"A searing examination of the unrelenting Chechen conflict, observed through the prisms of a Russian military boys academy, a war-torn town and a children's refugee camp." (IMDb) The first room is great but the two later (especially the second) rooms require more patience.

Cat People - 3/10 - The remake. This is a very appropriate last film for our class considering that we watched the brilliant original to start the semester, and also because the difference in quality between the two is unfathomably huge. The first movie had its faults but its atmsophere of nightmare dread and frightening (and quite clever) ambiguity has never been topped in any horror film I've seen. This movie predictably ramps up the gore, violence, sex and nudity, destroying all subtlety and turning the movie into a gruesome and routine splatter flick (with some very awkward homages to the original). It's abominable throughout; even the oft-nude Natassja Kinski does little to alleviate it. It gets an extra star each for an interesting mis-en-scene and Malcolm McDowell's delightfully over-the-top performance, but otherwise there's absolutely no reason to see this film until the original disappears off the face of the Earth.

The one other thing to note is that the first Cat People was a cheapie, whilst the remake cost considerably more to produce (even when dollars are adjusted). AND the first was done under the Hays/Breen code, and is much sexier than the post-code one.

Logged

That's what you get, Drink, for being such an annoying Melville fanboy.

Where Danger Lives (1950) - 7+/10There's an interesting, hazy, fevered atmosphere. I recommend this little film noir eventhough it's not a masterpiece

This film doesn't work for me at all. Why is Mitchum such a chump? Yeah, yeah, he got hit on the head . . . So, he's incapable of any rational action thereafter? Watching this, I couldn't wait for it to be over.

Logged

That's what you get, Drink, for being such an annoying Melville fanboy.

The Narrow Margin (1952) - 7.5/10I'm not sure if the twist makes perfect sense but overall this was good. The fist fight was very intense and I liked the use of reflections in windows. I also liked the short running time of 71 mins.

****SPOILER*****The twist makes no sense whatsoever, and makes nonsense of the whole plot. If you're going to have a decoy, then you should have them traveling separately. What if you decide to take out the whole train with a bomb? That way you'd get the decoy and the real article, even if you didn't know you were being decoyed. And of course, why use the train to begin with, when you can reduce your exposure by simply flying? What you might then do, however, is send the decoy by train . . . but again, the decoy would be traveling separately.****END SPOILER****

I agree with CJ about Marie Windsor, though. She's great, and is used better elsewhere (including, as CJ says, The Killing). She's in a couple of Perry Masons, as I remember.

Logged

That's what you get, Drink, for being such an annoying Melville fanboy.

****SPOILER*****The twist makes no sense whatsoever, and makes nonsense of the whole plot. If you're going to have a decoy, then you should have them traveling separately. What if you decide to take out the whole train with a bomb? That way you'd get the decoy and the real article, even if you didn't know you were being decoyed. And of course, why use the train to begin with, when you can reduce your exposure by simply flying? What you might then do, however, is send the decoy by train . . . but again, the decoy would be traveling separately.****END SPOILER****

I agree with CJ about Marie Windsor, though. She's great, and is used better elsewhere (including, as CJ says, The Killing). She's in a couple of Perry Masons, as I remember.

I just decided to go and watch The Killing.

***SPOILERS*** for The Narrow MarginWhat's equally stupid is the behaviour of the decoy. Her behaviour is understandable as long as we think she's a gangster's wife, a stupid and noisy tramp. But why would a police officer try, on purpose, to attract as much attention as possible and make sure she will be discovered? OK, she's trying to find out if Brown would take bribes but there's no reason why she should try to make the operation any harder. ***END SPOILERS***

The Killing (1956) - 9/10Too bad I knew the ending, but because there's some much more than just that one scene and because it's pretty evident that there's gonna be a tragic ending, it didn't matter that much.

The Killing (1956) - 9/10Too bad I knew the ending, but because there's some much more than just that one scene and because it's pretty evident that there's gonna be a tragic ending, it didn't matter that much.

I didn't like it overmuch, I thought it was a pretty banal heist film. What am I missing?